Genin life
by iunno1
Summary: Remember all those missions Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura did before they had the Mission about the bridge...no? ya neither do the rest of us, but it turns out some neat stuff happenend before that too. Read this to see what happened....please don't mind my
1. Time to Time

Ok kids...we all know that I don't know own naruto...hell if I was more creative I would prolly make my own characters, but alas I am not....hope you enjoy it...  
  
Time to time...  
  
'7 A.M....7 AM!! awwwww man I'm late again!!' Naruto was more then a little exhausted from yesterday's training/missions. He had spent the entire day chasing a canary around the village, he never realized jumping from roof top to roof top could be so difficult. Despite the huge black bags under his eyes he was moving as fast as normal. 'Shirt....shoes....headband....' thought Naruto.   
  
'Let's go!' Naruto shouted as he jumped out of his window onto the sidewalk and started running down the street to the team meeting place. 'NARUTO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!??' Naruto heard as he was running. A quick 180 degree spin had him facing sakura, her face was very distorted. Naruto felt as if she was angry at him for something....but what? Naruto stood facing her with a curious look on his face, he looked behind him scratching his head 'What is it Sakura?'  
  
'Put on some pants you PERVERT!!' Sakura screamed charging Naruto.  
  
'Whaaaa....??' Naruto looked at his legs. He was indeed pants less, he must have forgotten them in the chaos of getting ready for missions. 'Sakura I can expla....' Naruto wasn't able to finish his sentence as a fist splattered his face like a watermelon. Naruto let out a yelp as he skidded across the ground to a slow and painful stop.  
  
'Now go put some pants on now before Sasuke sees you, dumbass' Sakura was holding a fist hard enough to turn coal into a diamond. Naruto did as he was told, embarrassed that he had messed up in front of Sakura yet again. 'Wait for me will you?' Naruto asked as he jumped into his window.  
  
'Ohhhh...alright' sakura said to herself as she leaned up against a wooden-fence waiting for Naruto. Sakura shut her eyes not wanting to accidentally see Naruto naked, after about 30 seconds she felt someone walk by her.   
  
'Naruto at least tell me when you're ready to....' sakura started yelling when she stopped dead. Sasuke was walking past her, she was looking at the back of his raven black hair. He stopped dead, and just stood there. Sakura was about to begin apologizing when Sasuke spoke.  
  
'Don't mistake me for the Dead-last...' Sasuke opened one eye and looked up at Naruto's window. Naruto jumped down, but caught his hand on the railing of his deck before he began to fall. 'Shit I forgot my Kuni!' Naruto yelled as he flipped back into his window, jumping out a second later 'OK LETS GO!'  
  
'Excited as usual' Sasuke sighed.  
  
'Come on we don't wanna be late' Sakura scolded Naruto.  
  
'Not like it'll matter...he's gonna be late as usual anyway' Naruto responded.  
  
'Hey guys...wanna race?' Naruto playfully asked.  
  
'Sure dead-last' Sasuke jumped onto a street light and started hopping from rooftop to rooftop.  
  
Naruto's face exploded in red 'cheater! I didn't say go yet!' Naruto yelled as he began to chase.   
  
Unfortunately for Naruto, the chase wouldn't begin easily. Sasuke had dropped caltrops for Naruto to step on, which he did. 'OOOOUUUUCCCCHHHH!!!' Naruto yelped in pain as he hopped on one foot. Until his foot hit another caltrop...it looked like he was playing hop-scotch in a circle. 'Come-on Naruto, don't wanna be dead-last again do you?' Sakura giggled as she jumped after Sasuke. It took Naruto about a minute and a half to get all the caltrops out of his sandals. 'Here I come!' Naruto bellowed as he ran as fast as he could. 'Dammit I have to slow them down some how' Naruto pondered as he ran. Then it dawned on him, shadow clones! Naruto stopped and made a hand seal 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'. Five shadow clones appeared and all jumped on rooftops towards the meeting spot. Naruto continued to run hoping the shadow clones would slow down Sasuke enough for Naruto to come in first.   
  
'That moron...'Sasuke thought to himself as he saw Naruto flying toward him from his left.   
  
'How could he catch up to me that quickly?' Sasuke pondered as he landed on a roof top and hopped up enough for Naruto to fly underneath him and slam onto the roof, exploding in a poof of smoke. 'A shadow!?' Sasuke didn't have enough time to think as two more Naruto's jumped at him grabbing onto his legs and arms.  
  
'Got ya' both Narutos sneered simultaneously.  
  
'Hardly' Sasuke said emotionlessly. Sasuke jumped strait forward as if nobody was holding him down. The Naruto holding onto Sasuke's legs had to grab onto his left arm just to hold on. Both Narutos were yelling while Sasuke continued on his path acting unhindered. A kuni hit one of the Narutos in the back making him disappear in the same fashion as the first shadow clone. Sasuke looked behind him and saw Sakura trailing a rooftop behind, gazing at him wondrously.  
  
'What is that girl's problem?' Sasuke thought to himself. Sasuke, now with a free arm stabbed the other attached Naruto in the arm with one of his kuni.   
  
'OOOOOWWWWWWW.....I'm the real one MORON!' Naruto yelled as he let go and held onto his arm.  
  
'Shut-up I didn't stab you that hard' Sasuke said as he continued. Sakura stopped and began to scold Naruto. 'You idiot, you shouldn't have sent your clones after Sasuke, then you wouldn't have gotten hurt!'  
  
'I know I know...but I have another plan' Naruto snickered deviously. Sakura slapped her head in frustration.  
  
'You see my dear...' Naruto couldn't finish his sentence because Sakura bashed him on the top of his head.   
  
'Don't call me dear! Only Sasuke can do that!'  
  
'Ouch...sorry' Naruto's face went from pain back to devious thought in a split-second.  
  
'You see...I still have a shadow clone out there, and he set up traps.' Naruto's face became dark and menacing 'I'll get him yet!' Naruto jumped up and sped off after Sasuke.  
  
'What a moron' Sakura said to herself. Sasuke was about 5 rooftops ahead of Naruto when naruto noticed himself standing on a rooftop in the distance giving a thumbs up. 'ppppeeerrrrfffeeecccttt' Naruto smiled. The shadow clone then disappeared, Naruto saw Sasuke coming up towards the trip wire.  
  
'Oh Sasuke!' yelled a voice Sasuke didn't recognize. Sasuke turned around and saw a beautiful blond, naked on the roof-top. Sasuke didn't slow down while analyzing the beautiful woman, she had whisker scars on her face, Naruto! Sasuke turned his head facing forward when he noticed the tripwire too late.   
  
The wire caught Sasuke's foot, and pulled tight so Sasuke fell to the ground face first.  
  
'Who'sdeadlastnowsucker' Naruto said very quickly as he sped by. Suddenly Sasuke exploded in a puff of smoke. Naruto finally jumped onto the bridge where they meet for their missions.  
  
'Oh yea, who's first! I'm first! I'm the man! Nobody is better then me! I showed you Sasuke!' Naruto was dancing around and yelling.  
  
'Who's better then who?' Sasuke said as Naruto turned around to see Sasuke and Sakura sitting on the bridge.   
  
'We've been here for about ten minutes' Sakura smiled and poked out her tongue.  
  
'But...I...clone...trap...' Naruto was almost speechless.  
  
'You're not the only one who can make shadow clones...dead-last' smiled Sasuke.  
  
'Why you back stabbing...I'll show you!' Naruto pulled up his sleeve ready to deck Sasuke.  
  
'Hey hey now, we don't need this yet, save your energy, you'll need it' came a voice from the top of a pillar close by.  
  
'Who...?' Naruto asked himself as Sakura waved and smiled. 'Hiiiii sensei' sakura yelled.  
  
'Ohhhh...heh...' Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled a smile of relief.  
  
'Humph' Sasuke sighed. 


	2. Missions

Missions...  
  
'Ready for the briefing?' Kakashi smiled underneath his facemask. He quickly adjusted his headband over his left eye and jumped down to the three genins.   
  
'I'm ready to take on any challenge! Today is the day I'll prove I'm ready to become Hokage!' Naruto was jumping up and down punching the air.   
  
'Kakashi sensei...you're on time?' Sakura seemed surprised.  
  
'What is it today?' Sasuke blurted out in an uninterested tone.  
  
'Today we've gotta retrieve some fortune for a Noble from the lightning country' Kakashi put up a V with his fingers 'the highest rank D Mission we've had so far'.  
  
'Yay! I knew you saw my true power and now your ready to acknowledge me as your leader right!?' Naruto shot his arm in the air with fury.  
  
'Uhhhh....' all three of Narutos teammates made confused faces. 'Yea something like that' Kakashi replied. 'This is going to be more dangerous then all of your missions so far, let's hope you'll be prepared.'   
  
'whatever...' Sasuke began to walk away from the team. 'You wouldn't be able to handle it by yourself....chibi Sasuke' Kakashi made an obvious grin under his mask.  
  
'What did you say...' Sasuke turned around flustered with anger. Naruto fell over laughing; he couldn't even breathe properly 'chibi Sasuke! You're tiny!' Naruto pointed and Sasuke and laughed more.  
  
'Are you ready to pay attention?' Kakashi asked Sasuke.  
  
'Yes.' Kakashi pulled out a scroll and opened it, the scroll was a map of the Leaf country. 'We have to intercept them within the next 3 days, if they leave the country its out of our jurisdiction' Kakashi began to explain. 'Well why can't we just let the other countries handle it?' Naruto asked. Kakashi sighed 'because then we don't get paid...idiot' Sasuke snickered and Sakura stared at Naruto blankly. 'Well what if we don't get paid?' Naruto asked again.   
  
'Then you'll never become Hokage...' Kakashi said bluntly. Naruto jumped up and pointed in a random direction 'Well then lets catch up with these thieves so I can show off my masterful skills and become the best Hokage in the history of the Leaf country! 'Kakashi grabbed onto the back of Naruto's collar and pulled him down to his knees with the rest of them. 'You'll never become Hokage if you never learn to listen' Kakashi explained beginning to lose his cool.  
  
'Ok ok ok just tell us what we gotta do' Naruto pouted.  
  
'We know which direction they are headed, east. All we have to do is find their path, then make an interception point and make a surprise attack. We can be in and out of there 2 days tops' Kakashi pointed out where in the map they needed to be while he explained the plan. 'We need to spend today finding their path, they appear to have some skilled fighters with them this could be dangerous...no mistakes' Kakashi looked directly at naruto.  
  
'What're you looking at me for!?' Kakashi stood up and put the scroll in his vest 'alright you 3 follow me.' The four of them jumped into the trees and headed east. After about half a day's travel the sun was beginning to set. 'Still no sign of them, maybe they're moving faster then expected' Kakashi thought to himself. Kakashi pulled the three of them together in a small circle, 'alright...you three make camp here, I'll go find them and come back. After that we can make our move.' With that said Kakashi zipped off east, leaving the trio of genins to fend for themselves for the night. 'Well what do we do now?' Naruto asked scratching the back of his head.  
  
'Alright, I'll take command' Sakura jumped up obviously wanting to be in charge 'Sasuke will have to fall head over heels for me when he sees how good of a leader I am' sakura thought to herself. 'Naruto, go collect some water! Sasuke go get firewood! I'll go find us some food!'   
  
'What a bossy lady' naruto said, he was rewarded for that comment with a large bump on his head. Sasuke had no trouble collecting firewood, and sakura was having trouble finding them food...mostly because she didn't want to kill any animals. Naruto walked up to a river about 200 meters away. 'Awwww man....now what am I gonna do!?' Naruto yelled in his brain. After about 30 minutes Sasuke had built a pile of firewood that would last them a week if necessary, Sakura brought berries and rubbage she found.   
  
'No hunt?' Sasuke asked Sakura bluntly.  
  
'Uhhh...well ya see...I....the animals...' Sakura was punching herself in her mind 'I made myself look stupid yet again!'  
  
'By the way, where's dead-last?' Sasuke asked.  
  
'Dunno, he should be around here somewhere....NARUTO!' Sakura yelled with no answer.  
  
'Ok let's make the fire quickly and go search for Naruto' Sakura said as she began to put the logs and kindling together. Sasuke used his Karyuu Endan to shoot fire onto the wood and lit them quickly. 'Alright lets go' Sakura stood up ready to go search for Naruto. Suddenly they heard what sounded like 100 elephants running toward them.  
  
'What is that!?' Sakura yelled grabbing onto Sasuke's arm.  
  
'I have no idea' when Sasuke's eyes picked up something in the distance...it looked like an army.  
  
'HERE WE COME!!!' the sound of hundreds of Narutos yelled in the distance. As they got closer Sasuke and Sakura realized that there were about 200 Narutos digging a stream towards the fire with their bare hands! As they got in about 10 feet of the fire they did a complete 180 degree turn heading back in the direction they came.  
  
'Naruto what are you doing?' Sakura asked him with a confused face.  
  
'Watch', a naruto jumped out of the crowd and turned around and put his hand over to keep the sun out of his eyes so he could see farther....despite the fact that it was dark out.   
  
All of a sudden the three of them heard water rushing toward them. Filling the stream that the Narutos had dug. 'What's the meaning of this?' Sakura asked still confused.   
  
'Hehe...' Naruto giggled. 'Let me explain my super-ingenious-brilliant-super-awesome-idea!' Naruto made the V symbol with his fingers. 'I found a river back that way' Naruto pointed behind his back towards the river. 'But there was no way to get the water over here, I didn't have a bucket. So I decided I'd bring the river closer to us right? Then we could have all the water we wanted. So I used Kage Bushin no Jutsu to make lots of us so we could dig it to here. Pretty smart huh?' Naruto smiled a huge smile from ear to ear.  
  
'Actually that's pretty smart' Sasuke said leaning up against a tree in the shadows.  
  
'I can't argue with that, good job Naruto' Sakura smiled. Naruto smiled even more.  
  
'Let's rest up and wait for Kakashi-sensei' Sakura ordered. So the team ate some berries and began to doze off.   
  
The next morning at around 8 AM Kakashi jumped down to the camp, the fire was out and the three of them were snoring away. 'I don't remember there being a stream here?' Kakashi questioned. Then he looked at Naruto's fingernails and smiled 'smarter then he looks'. Kakashi woke them up and told them were their target was, and where they needed to be to intercept. 


	3. The fight

The fight...  
  
'You guys...understand?' Kakashi began to feel worried because his soldiers were still drozy. After a big yawn they all nodded and the four of them jumped into their places. They were about 3 hours ahead of the target, they needed to stay in their hiding places and wait for the target to hit the spot...then they would attack for maximum damage with minimum loss. Kakashi would stay behind the enemy for a rear attack during the ambush, Sakura would be to the left of the target spot behind some rocks. Sasuke was up in a tree off to the right of the target spot, and Naruto was about 40 steps ahead of the target spot. They would be able to attack from all directions with this plan. There were about 10 armed men, and a horse drawn wagon full of gold and diamonds. They were heading west at about 56 steps a minute, a slow pace. They were not expecting an attack. Sakura and Sasuke were tired, but awake and ready. Naruto wasn't tired at all, he was sleeping. He had fallen asleep about 25 feet up in a tree, and without his balance he fell. He yelled very loudly when his head slammed into the dirt calling the attention of the targets. He was in view of the targets, they were about 30 steps from the target spot. They had stopped in their tracks, Naruto was seen, the plan had to be modified.  
  
Sakura and Sasuke ran back a few steps and threw 4 smoke bombs each into the mass of men. Kakashi rushed into the smoke bomb but was blown back by a gust of air along with all the smoke. Sasuke and Sakura joined the fray, kuni were flying hitting two men in the thigh. 'Remember no killing is allowed' Sakura remembered Kakashi-sensei saying while he was explaining the plan. Kakashi looked into the crowd, 'who would have the power to blow away the smoke from smoke bombs, only a ...' Kakashi's face dropped in fear. Naruto looked up and saw a battle ensuing in front of him about 10 meters away. Naruto rubbed his head, stood up wearily, and ran into the fray.  
  
'I've got to keep focused, can't let my fear get the best of me' Sakura told herself. She was ducking each punch, each sword, one at a time, not allowing her attention to be drawn too thin. She noticed someone in all black, face mask as well, with an hour-glass looking head band. Then she noticed Kakashi-sensei jump in front of him and the two of them disappeared. That took Sakura's attention too far from the fight in front of her, she saw a fist coming right at her and ducked it. It skimmed the top of her scalp, she jumped strait up driving her knee into her opponents face. 'Shit!' sakura thought as she saw in her peripheral vision a sword coming right at her face from the left at a 90 degree angle. Sakura pulled a Kuni out of her pouch and blocked the sword, she used the man whom she kneed in the face. He was still standing, she propelled herself off of his collarbone and jumped backwards knocking him down. The man holding the sword turned in the direction Sakura was flying, she landed on a tree and propelled her self again toward the man with the sword instantly. Her kuni met his sword and her kuni slid overtop of the sword, he missed her again! Sakura threw her kuni at the swordsman while she was still flying away from him. The Kuni hit the swordsman's hand and he dropped his sword. Sakura then used her chakra to slow her momentum down and stop her flight, she turned and ran at the now sword less swordsman. He wasn't paying any attention to her, perfect. She swept his feet out from under him. He fell on his back, Sakura used her spinning momentum to spin 360 degrees. She lifted her leg strait up so she was doing a complete split standing up, she controlled the chakra of her momentum and put it all into her heel. She then drove her heel into her opponent who was on the ground, he spat up blood and passed out right there. Sakura pulled out two more kuni and kneeled down to catch her breath.  
  
'This is going to be more difficult then I had anticipated' Sasuke thought to himself as he took on 4 opponents at once. Two had swords, one had a spear, and one had brass knuckles. 'Ok, get control, look at the situation.' Sasuke looked at the men surrounding him. The one in front had a spear, ones on left and right have swords, and man behind has fists. Sasuke focused on the man with the spear, he had the most range, and the swords were in his peripheral vision so he could dodge when necessary. The man with the brass knuckles is out of arms length so he is no threat yet. Sasuke stopped his body completely and waited for an attack, and when it came he was ready. The spearman came first trying to impale Sasuke, Sasuke jumped just high enough to land on the spear. Sasuke then ran up the spear and kicked the spearman in the face, Sasuke put his hands on the man's shoulders and flipped over top of him. While still holding onto the man's shoulders Sasuke kicked out his kneecaps making him kneel down. 'Threat disabled, new threat, the swordsman that is now on my left' the swordsman was swinging at Sasuke and the spearman. Sasuke then used his chakra to spin around the spearman's body like a snake and kick the spear out of his hands at the swordsman who was now mid-swing. The spear flew at him like a helicopter blade, hitting him in the chest. The swordsman bent over, he wasn't cut, just hit by the wooden part of the spear. Sasuke used this moment to grab the spear which was on the ground next to the hunched over swordsman. Sasuke spun in a circle and baseball batted the swordsman over his back. 'Two gone, next the swordsman in front of me' Sasuke smiled. That swordsman was standing there waiting for Sasuke to make the first move. Sasuke placed the spear in front of his feet and picked up the sword and stared at the swordsman. Sasuke kicked the spear at him, the spear was spinning at him in the same fashion it spun towards the other swordsman. This one swung at the spear cutting in two, he didn't even notice Sasuke who was right behind the spear. Sasuke swung his sword, the swordsman did an overhead swing to block Sasuke's swing. Sasuke pushed his chakra below his legs to propel his foot upwards at an awkward angle. Sasuke took the pain and kicked the swordsman between his arms and below his jaw. The swordsman's feet lifted off the ground and he was out cold. 'Three out of 4...one left' Sasuke looked at the man with brass knuckles who was standing there frozen in fear. Sasuke stood up and the man put his hands up in a fighting position. 'heh...lets go' Sasuke said as he charged his opponent.  
  
'YOU'RE GOING DOWN!' naruto said as he charged two men head on. Neither of them had weapons, but one was a very large man. Standing at about 6'5 and 300 pounds, the other was a normal guy. Naruto jumped and kicked at the big guy, his kick was blocked and his foot was caught by the big man. 'Stupid kid' the big guy said as he held Naruto upside-down. The smaller guy punched Naruto in the face several times before Naruto was able to squirm out of the large guy's grip. 'Asshole!' Naruto yelled as he charged the smaller guy head on. Naruto, fist cocked, swung and hit thin air as the man stepped to the left. 'Got ya now kid!' the smaller guy yelled as he cocked his fist back ready to pummel Naruto again. 'Not quite' Naruto smiled. He continued to spin in the direction that he had punched, the man wasn't fast enough and Naruto's heel connected with his face as Naruto jumped with a spinning kick. The man spun like a top as he fell to the ground. Naruto jumped up and down in victory over the knocked out smaller guy. 'Your dead kid!' the big guy said as he picked up a big log ready to crush Naruto with it. Naruto looked at the log wide eyed not knowing what to do, when three shirkens hit the log. The force of the impact made the big man lose his balance, step back once and drop the log behind him. Naruto looked behind him and saw Sasuke standing on 4 bodies gasping for breath. Naruto charged the big guy and performed his Bushin no Jutsu making three clones of himself. The clones attacked while the big guy was still off balance. One punch to the face, another kick to the ribs, another kick to the ribs, and a last punch to the face. Little did naruto know that there was a small hill behind the big guy which they both fell down. A good 5 foot drop to unconscious for the big guy, luckily Naruto landed on the big guy's stomach taking away all impact. Naruto stood up and looked up at the top of the hill, Sasuke was there and sakura too. They were smiling at him.  
  
'Good job Naruto...' Sasuke smiled. Sasuke put his fist out and Naruto jumped up to the top of the hill and hit Sasuke's fist with his own. The put their arms around each other for support, all three of them felt as if they were one entity while they walked toward the wagon. Kakashi was standing next to the wagon with the black ninja knocked out on a pile of bodies.  
  
'Good job you 3, I'm impressed it took less time I thought it would' Kakashi smiled a big smile under his mask.   
  
'Kakashi-sensei...WE ROCK!' Naruto yelled as he jumped and made a big V with his fingers.  
  
'Lets head back shall we?' Kakashi nodded.  
  
'I'm getting ramen when we get back!' Naruto yelled.   
  
'I'm getting a shower when we get back!' Sakura yelled, now realizing she was covered in dirt.  
  
'I'm tired' Sasuke said to himself. 'Oh and one last thing...' Kakashi smiled as he turned to walk back towards the village 'You three have to pull this wagon.'  
  
'KAKASHI-SENSEI!' Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's faced drooped at the same time. The sun was just hitting high noon as they walked, and pulled a cart home... 


	4. Challange

Challenge...  
  
'One..two...three...' Naruto was doing one handed pushups waiting for Sakura and Sasuke to come get him. Today they were going to find out what Kakashi-sensei looked like. Yesterday after their mission Naruto had decided that Kakashi was deformed and they needed to find out how. But when the time came, they failed miserably...Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji showed up and ruined everything. And on the way home everybody was walking down the street...'What where you three thinking! We had almost gotten to see what Kakashi-sensei looked like!!!' Naruto was furious. Sakura and Ino were not paying any attention to Naruto, they were busy hanging all over Sasuke. Sasuke was busy trying to keep the two of them off of him. The only two that were really listening were Shikamaru and Chouji. 'Why don't you just shut up idiot' Shikamaru retorted 'we didn't want to go, Ino forced us to...' Shikamaru looked up at the cloudless sky and sighed. Chouji was looking at the ground, Naruto could tell that Chouji was still hungry.  
  
'What do you say?' Kakashi nodded at Asuma. 'I don't think so...' Asuma looked at his genins as they walked around with Kakashi's team. 'PPPPlllleaseee?' Kakashi looked at Asuma with his puppy dog eye 'It'll be fun, you'll see. 'Asuma looked at Kakashi with eyes of defeat...'alright you win, tomorrow then?' Kakashi smiled a huge grin under his mask and jumped away. 'What have I gotten these kids into...' Asuma sighed and jumped after Kakashi. Ino was clamped to Sasuke's front while Sakura was clenching onto his ankles. 'Get off of me, I can't move or see!' Sasuke yelled at the girls. Suddenly Ino's back hit something hard, 'did we walk into a wall or something?' Ino questioned. Everybody stopped while Ino turned around to see Kakashi standing right in their path. 'Hi everybody' Kakashi greeted with a hint of glee in his voice. Asuma landed behind Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji surprising them. 'What's the meaning of this?' Sasuke questioned as Ino and Sakura let go of him. 'We've got a training exercise for you all tomorrow' Kakashi was still smiling. 'BUT TOMORROW IS OUR DAY OFF!!' all of the genins yelled at once with horrified looks on their faces. 'I know, but we've decided you all need more training in teamwork' Kakashi lectured. 'And the best way to do that is to repeat an exercise we did before...with bells' Kakashi continued. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke's jaws fell to the ground. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji looked confused at Asuma.   
  
'Asuma held up two bells, you have to get these bells from me' Asuma directed to Naruto's team.  
  
'And vice versa' Kakashi said to Shikamaru's team. Both Jounins smiled a really big smile 'Tomorrow at 5 AM, meet here.' Kakashi explained the process to Shikamaru's team, they will try to capture Kakashi's bells in the village. While Naruto's team will try to capture Asuma's bells in the forest setting they took their first test in. 'Good-luck everybody' Kakashi and Asuma waved as they walked away.  
  
Naruto spent the entire day practicing. 'I will not lose this time, this guy isn't nearly as strong as Kakashi-sensei, I will definitely beat him!' Naruto decided to try a new form of practice he would make three shadow clones of himself and have all of them attack him at once. Sasuke tried a different approach, he spent the entire time practicing his trap making. 'I will have to catch this man on traps, last time I almost got the bell from Kakashi sensei because of the trap I made. If I can make better traps this time I may get the bells and prove my strength. 'Sakura did not make as good a use of her free time, she spent the entire time worrying. 'What am I going to do, this guy is a jounin like Kakashi-sensei...' Sakura's day was wasted. Shikamaru was sleeping for the majority of the day, he didn't want to exert too much energy. 'I already know the layout of the village very well, I should be able to catch him with my Kageshibari No Jutsu (also called kagemane Ossan). 'When I catch him I'll just get the bell and end it quickly, no big deal.' Ino was following Sasuke around the woods watching him, wondering what would have happened if she had been on his team. 'Ino, I never realized how stupid sakura was until I met you...I love you!' she imagined Sasuke saying to her. She began to daydream so much that she lost sight of Sasuke 'Damn, don't worry my love I'll find you soon enough.' Chouji did what he always does, he ate! Tomorrow should be interesting... 


	5. A second round

A second round...  
  
'Naruto...NAruto...NARUTO!!!' Naruto heard in his dreams. His dream did not last long when he was woken up by a punch to the face. Naruto opened his left eye because his right one was swollen shut. Sakura and Sasuke were standing over top of him. 'Wake up you idiot! We've got 15 minutes before we have to mean Asuma-sensei!' Sakura was yelling at the top of her lungs. 'Huh...whaa?' Naruto could barley make out any noise, mostly because Sakura's foot was crushing his lungs. 'What's the problem you moron! Get up we can't be late this time or we fail!' Sakura was freaking out until she saw Sasuke pointing at her foot on Naruto's chest. 'Oh...hehe sorry Naruto' Sakura apologized taking her foot of Naruto's chest quickly. 'Ok guys turn around while I get changed' Naruto commanded.   
  
'Make sure you put on pants this time' Sakura commanded back at him. Sasuke began to walk towards the window that they climbed in to wake up Naruto. 'I'll meet you guys there' Sasuke jumped out the window. Sakura chased after him not saying a word. 'Hey you guys wait up!' Naruto yelled while he was hopping around trying to get his pants on. Finally Naruto got dressed and jumped out after his comrades, but something felt wrong. 'Oh well I don't have time to focus on bad things right now' Naruto said to himself as he caught up to Sasuke and Sakura. They got to the meeting place 10 minutes late, to find an angry Asuma. 'What took you three so long?' Asuma's eyebrows were twitching with frustration.   
  
'Sorry Asumi-sensei' Naruto apologized.  
  
'It's ASUMA!'  
  
'Oh...heh...right, sorry' Naruto apologized again with a stupid grin on his face scratching the back of his head.   
  
'Alright, you guys have 10 minutes to find hiding places. I'll be hiding around the woods so you'll have to come chase me. You have till sun-down.'  
  
'Alright! I'm gonna whip your butt worse then I do Kakashi-sensei!' Naruto pointed at Asuma with glowing confidence. 'Heh...yea right' Sasuke corrected Naruto 'this guy is older then Kakashi-sensei, he's probably been a jounin longer then him....he's probably better.' A look of dread came over Naruto's and Sakura's faces. Asuma did some hand seals and smiled, 'You have 10 minutes' Asuma pointed out again as he jumped into the woods.   
  
'Alright what are we going to do? We can't take him on one on one' Sakura told Sasuke and Naruto. 'I say we take him head on! Just like Kakashi-sensei said we should've done to him.' Naruto responded with enthusiasm. 'Doesn't sound like a bad idea, it's not like we have a time limit or repercussions this time around' Sasuke agreed.  
  
'Ok then...we all charge him and take the bells by force' Sakura agreed with Sasuke, even though she thought it was a bad idea. The three of them ran headfirst into the woods, they didn't slow down their pace at all. They needed to find him before he could make a battle plan. Sasuke was slightly worried, they knew nothing of his skills or weaknesses. For all they knew he could be the strongest Jounin in the village. One thing Sasuke did notice was his weapons, where Kakashi-sensei used mostly kuni, this guy had strange looking brass knuckles. They looked like they had spikes on the ends of them. They could be potentially dangerous, and was this guy willing to use them. Sasuke looked at Naruto, he seemed excited. Sakura appeared calm and callous, she was ready for anything. Sasuke looked ahead of him again and saw they were coming into a field. And in the center of that field was Asuma-sensei, hands on his hips waiting for them.  
  
'Go!' Naruto yelled as he charged faster. Unlike Sasuke and Sakura who slowed down when they reached the edge of the field. 'Shit...Naruto wait!' Sasuke yelled 'oh dammit!' Sasuke chased after Naruto. Sakura pulled out four kuni and jumped into a tree ready to give them support.  
  
'Come get some!' Asuma yelled as he got on one knee. Naruto jumped at Asuma foot first. Asuma didn't move, Naruto passed through him as if he were a shadow. Sasuke saw Naruto fly though Asuma and realized it was a shadow genjutsu. 'Shit! He knew what we were doing? Where is he?!' Sasuke thought to himself. Sakura was watching Naruto and Sasuke from the tree branch, wondering what was going on.   
  
'Hi' Asuma smiled squatting next to her on the branch.  
  
'Shhhh....that's actually not Asuma-Sensei, we have to find out where he is and I can't have you giving away my position' Sakura scolded Asuma without even looking at him.  
  
'Oh ok, well I won't tell him where you are ok?' Asuma was still smiling.  
  
'Ok than...' Sakura's head wrenched to her right, where Asuma was sitting. Sakura let out a scream that could be heard throughout the entire forest. Naruto and Sasuke turned and saw Asuma sitting next to Sakura. 'Shit!' they both said simultaneously as they threw two kunis each at the tree branch. 'Sorrygottago' Asuma jumped and disappeared. Naruto and Sasuke looked closely to see if they had hit him, but all they saw was Sakura in a contorted position to dodge all the deadly kunis that were sticking out of the tree.   
  
'You idiot Naruto!' Sakura yelled at Naruto.  
  
'Why just me?' Naruto asked while Sasuke was walking away with a smile on his face and his eyes closed. Naruto was arguing with Sakura about how Sasuke threw kuni as well, Sasuke could hear it. He began to walk towards the woods when he hit what felt like a tree, he looked up and saw a smiling Asuma.  
  
'Miss me?' Asuma asked as he punched Sasuke in the chest making him bowl over Naruto.   
  
'What the!?' Naruto yelled as Sasuke charged Asuma.   
  
'Naruto come on!' Sasuke yelled. Naruto jumped up and followed suit after Sasuke. Sasuke kicked at Asuma's stomach, Asuma blocked the kick with both hands. Naruto jumped over Sasuke's head and punched Asuma in the face. Naruto stopped dead in the air, it felt like punching a brick wall. Naruto yelped in pain as he fell on top of Sasuke, they jumped apart and began to pummel Asuma. Both of them had forgotten about the bells and just wanted to show they could damage this guy. Unfortunately for them they couldn't, every blow felt like punching a solid tree.   
  
'Aren't you guys forgetting about the bells?' Asuma questioned while getting beaten.  
  
'Oh right...the bells!' Naruto yelled as he grabbed for them. Sasuke jumped, spun, and kicked towards Asuma's face. While Sasuke was spinning before his kick, Asuma ducked and grabbed Naruto's arm. Asuma stood up and lifted Naruto in front of his face, Naruto was smiling a huge smile. 'Sasuke I've got the....' BLAM Naruto was kicked in the face by Sasuke's hardest kick. Naruto dropped the bell as he went flying backwards, Asuma quickly punched Sasuke making him fly backwards as well. When it was all over the bell landed softly in Asuma's open hand.  
  
'Better luck next time guys.'  
  
Sakura had just finished pulling the kuni out of her clothes. 'That idiot Naruto got all the kuni stuck in my clothes pinning me to the tree!' Sakura was severely pissed off. She looked where the fighting was going on, and saw Sasuke and naruto laying on the ground about 30 feet apart from each other. Both of them were on their backs looking at the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Asuma running into the woods. She threw kuni after kuni at him, trying to hit him before he hit the woods. Asuma threw a kuni for ever kuni Sakura threw, then threw 5 more pinning Sakura to the tree yet again. The Kuni were dug so far into the tree that Sakura had to spend about 30 minutes pulling them out. After she got the last one she jumped down to Sasuke and Naruto who were still laying face up. She landed next to Sasuke 'Does it still hurt?' Sakura kissed his forehead and helped him up.  
  
'What about me?' Naruto mumbled as he got up by himself.   
  
'Shut up Naruto and get up and help Sasuke!' Sakura yelled at Naruto.   
  
'Get off of me!' Sasuke pushed Sakura off of him and ran into the woods after Asuma.   
  
'I guess he thinks we should split up' Naruto said as he walked up next to Sakura who was standing speechless staring at Sasuke run away. Sasuke was running through the woods looking for good places to set traps. 'A snare trap here, a trip wire there, a kuni trap here...with an extra trip wire...and one last snare right next to the trip wire, with a kuni trap to hit the person who steps into the snare trap' Sasuke was ready to lead his prey into the trap. Sakura had run off on her own, she needed to sneak up on this guy. She would never be able to take him head on. She saw him standing next to a tree she was about to jump to, she quickly jumped into a bush as quietly as possible.   
  
'I can see you ya know?' Asuma smiled while staring at the bush she was hiding in. Two kuni flew out of the bush headed for Asuma. 'You've got pretty good Aim, better take that away from you' Asuma caught both kuni, tossed them to the side and began to do some hand seals. Sakura was watching him closely. 'It's not a ninjutsu, it has to be a genjutsu...but what?' Sakura could see the seals closely. Uma (Horse), Nezumi (Rat), Inu (Dog), Uma (Horse) again, O-hitsuji (Ram), Tora (Tiger), and one she didn't recognize. 'What's he doing!?' Sakura jumped out of the bush and began her retreat.   
  
'Not yet you don't!' Asuma pushed his hands forward and Sakura felt something hit her in the back. When she opened her eyes everything was upside-down. 'What's going on?' Sakura whispered to herself.  
  
'Let's just call it my upside-down attack shall we?' Asuma laughed 'Hope you can enjoy it, its gonna last 24 hours.' Asuma jumped away, Sakura decided she was done for the day. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was Sasuke jumping after Asuma.   
  
Sasuke was close behind Asuma, 'He's slower then Kakashi-sensei...I can use this to my advantage.' Sasuke decided to do a suicide attack, he threw a kuni past Asuma and cut a trip wire. About 10 kuni flew right in front of Asuma making him stop, Asuma let out a sigh of relief, 'That would've taken my face off.' Asuma decided he would let Sasuke take another shot at him, 'ya know it's not gonna hurt me anyway right?'  
  
'Sure...' Sasuke answered as he flew shoulder first into Asuma. The force of Sasuke's tackle pushed Asuma and Sasuke off the branch and into a trap Sasuke had set. The four corners of the new flew up catching both Sasuke and Asuma in the net.   
  
'Not bad kid, now what?' Asuma asked being squished up against Sasuke and the net.  
  
'I get your bells' Sasuke could maneuver easier then Asuma and grabbed his bells.  
  
'Awwww...dammit kid, I guess you got me' Asuma frowned. Sasuke grabbed the bells and smiled in Asuma's face.   
  
'Guess you're not as good as Kakashi-sensei huh?'  
  
'Guess not kid...' suddenly Asuma and the bells in Sasuke's hand disappeared in a puff of smoke. A distorted look came over Sasuke's face, who was now stuck in the net by himself 'DAMMIT!!' Sasuke yelled. Sasuke quickly cut himself out of the net and ran off into the woods yet again.  
  
Naruto was running around the woods randomly, hoping he would be able to get the slip on Asuma-sensei. Naruto came upon Sakura laying in a bush with her eyes shut 'Hey sorry kid, didn't think she'd....'Naruto threw two kuni at the voice behind him without looking.   
  
'Shit!' he heard the voice call as he heard flesh tear. Naruto turned around and punched as hard as he could hitting only thin air. Naruto was furious, 'How dare you do that to my friends! You're finished!' Naruto's vision was beginning to turn red 'how could he do that to sakura? She's knocked out! Even Kakashi-sensei wouldn't do that to her!' Asuma knew he was at less of an advantage. 'My genjutsu that forced my brain to not feel pain was overwhelmed when that blond kid threw his kuni into my leg' Asuma thought to himself. 'I've got no choice but to take him head on, hopefully I can subdue him in enough time to finish off the Uchiha boy' Asuma knew what he had to do. Naruto jumped out of the woods and flew at Asuma, there looked like there was very little rational thought in his eyes. Asuma viewed the situation and understood the circumstances, Naruto's normal chakra was running low and the 9-tails chakra was beginning to take over. If all of Naruto's chakra was lost the 9-tails would take over, that could be potentially lethal to everybody.   
  
'Alright kid, let's go!' Asuma yelled as he charged Naruto head on.   
  
'Give it up kid, your low on stamina' Asuma punched at Naruto, Asuma had to get him to quit before he went insane.   
  
'Shut-up!' Naruto wasn't even listening. Naruto punched at Asuma, Asuma sidestepped and kicked Naruto's feet out from under him. 'Listen kid, calm down!' Asuma demanded. 'D...i...e...' Naruto blurted out before three shadow clones jumped onto Asuma's back. One grabbed onto Asuma's ankles, and one on each arm. Naruto got up and punched Asuma so hard the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke. Asuma flew into a nearby tree, cracking the trunk, Asuma had to fight to stay conscious. Naruto had calmed down and was back to his normal self, 'Thank god' Asuma thought. Sasuke ran into the field where Naruto and Asuma were. Sasuke was surprised to see that Naruto had gotten a shot off on Asuma, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Sasuke and Naruto charged Asuma and began to attack.   
  
Asuma could block Naruto easily, he was tired and low on chakra. Sasuke was different, he hadn't expelled as much energy and was almost full of chakra. 'Naruto now!' Sasuke yelled Naruto did his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and about 50 Naruto's appeared. Every single one took a single shot at Asuma one at a time. Asuma needed to focus all of his attention on the shadow clones or he would be pummeled. Sasuke took this opportunity, he made a couple of hand seals and committed to his Karyuu Endan. Fire shot out of his mouth headed right for Asuma's back, Asuma grabbed onto one of the Naruto's fists and turned around.   
  
'Not again!' the naruto yelled as the fire hit him full force. The rest of the Naruto's disappeared while the real Naruto got toasted. From above two kuni embedded themselves into the back of Asuma's legs. He was taken to his knees from the shock that gave Sasuke and the now blackened Naruto enough time to punch Asuma in the face at the same time. Asuma fell right on his back, Naruto jumped up and down in victory while Sasuke walked up to Asuma and took his bells. Sakura jumped out of a tree and landed uneasily next to Sasuke, she leaned on him half from exhaustion and half because she just wanted to touch him.   
  
'We did it, you lose' Sasuke said with a smirk on his face directed toward Asuma. Naruto was still jumping around in excitement. Asuma stood up uneasily, made a couple of hand seals, suddenly the sky turned black.  
  
'What the?' Naruto looked up at the night sky. Sakura fell off of Sasuke to the ground on her knees. Sasuke looked at Asuma with an angry look on his face 'What did you do? Fast-forward time? So you could win!?'   
  
'Hahahahaha....hardly....sorry kid but I'm not that good' Asuma pulled the kuni out of the back of his legs as he stood up. Sakura knew what had happened 'remember when he made hand seals before we left?'  
  
'Ya and?' Naruto butted in.  
  
'Haha...alright I'll tell you kids. Those hand seals were a genjutsu, a very powerful genjutsu. It allows me to fool anybody in my eyesight. I can make them feel as though time had stopped, ever notice why you didn't get hungry? Or why the sun had never moved? We have actually been out here for long past the time limit...it's about midnight' Asuma explained. Suddenly Naruto's stomach began to cramp horribly as if he hadn't eaten all day. 'You kids did very well...you did manage to get the bells despite my best efforts...but I still win' Asuma smiled. Now let's get back, since I denied you food all day I will buy you as much as you want!'  
  
'Alright I'll forgive you this time! As long as you feed me well!' Naruto yelled with excitement. As the group walked into the moonlight a sigh of relief came from all of them... 


	6. First time for Everything

First time for everything...  
  
Shikamaru was ready at 5 AM at the spot where Kakashi told them to meet. He yawned as he walked to the spot, which wasn't much of a change, he was tired all of the time. 'I wonder if I should have woken Chouji and Ino up' Shikamaru thought to himself as he reached the spot. 'Well at least I'll get to watch the sunrise, it makes the clouds beautiful colors' Shikamaru sat down and leaned up against a fence waiting for his team-mates. Shikamaru began to doze off when he felt a pebble hit him in the head, looking to his left he saw Ino and Chouji walking down the path towards him. 'Shikamaru!! Why didn't you come get us!?' Ino yelled at Shikamaru 'We're now two hours late!'  
  
'You were too far away...it would've been way too much effort, besides the guy isn't here yet' Shikamaru answered.  
  
'WE LIVE A BLOCK AWAY EACH!'  
  
'And your point?' Ino dropped her head in defeat 'I shoulda known, you lazy bastard.'   
  
'Look who's talking, you're the one who's late.'  
  
'Shut-up, by the way what's wrong?' Shikamaru's face was staring at the clouds, 'I hadn't fallen asleep but somehow two hours have passed by. Did Asuma-sensei use that technique?'  
  
'Maybe, but that takes a lot of chakra out of him...hehe...I'll bet Sasuke and his team are a bunch of pushovers. Asuma-sensei will make short work of them' Chouji said as he took out a bag of chips and began to munch. 'Ya know Chouji, you must have a special ninjutsu that allows that bag of yours to never run out of chips' Ino poked fun.  
  
'Shut-up' Chouji responded blankly.  
  
'Quiet Ino' Shikamaru agreed with Chouji. 'But at least its better then listening to her talk about Sasuke, then she'll never shut up' Shikamaru whispered and giggled to Chouji who joined him in the laughter.   
  
'I heard that you piece of ...' Ino was stopped when Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
'Now now...no fighting or you'll never win' Kakashi scolded jokingly.  
  
'Who cares if we win' Shikamaru asked and stated all at the same time.  
  
'Well...this is your chuunin exam' Kakashi answered.  
  
'What..?' the team asked with their mouths dropped to the ground.  
  
'You heard me, if you can capture my bells by the end of the day...you'll become chuunins, that suit you?'  
  
'OOOOOOO, this is my chance to show up Sakura and win Sasuke' Ino thought to herself clenching her entire body.  
  
'Alls we gotta do is get the bells huh?' Chouji thought to himself.  
  
'This better not make me break a sweat' Shikamaru said out loud.   
  
'By the way...aren't you a bit late?' Ino asked knowing she backed him into a corner 'you can't be that good if you got here 2 hours late. This'll be a piece of cake.'  
  
'heh...only stupid people wake up to get anywhere by 5 AM' Kakashi answered with an obvious smile and a closed eye. Shikamaru let out a sigh.  
  
'You guys have to give me ten minutes to hide, think of it as a game of hide & seek' Kakashi continued to smile. Kakashi jumped off and hid, for twenty minutes nobody moved in Shikamaru's group. 'What're you doing? Shouldn't we get going?' Ino demanded  
  
'I don't really want to move' Shikamaru said bluntly 'I don't care if I get chuunin.'  
  
'WELL I DO SO LET'S GO!' Ino grabbed Shikamaru by his earrings with Chouji following not too far behind. 'I have an idea' Shikamaru slapped Ino's hand away after about 2 minutes of dragging.   
  
'What is it?' Chouji asked. Shikamaru got on one knee and beckoned his team-mates to join him 'Here's what we do. The village is too large for us to search as a group' Shikamaru pulled out three kunis attached to exploding notes 'One for each of us, we split up and when we find him we throw it into the air and it will explode allowing our team-mates to find us' Shikamaru gave one to Ino and one to Chouji 'we can't beat this guy without working as a team, besides I don't want to expel too much energy' Shikamaru let out a little smile.   
  
'Good think your here Shikamaru, I wouldn't have ever thought of that' Chouji said taking his kuni. The three of them tapped their kuni together and jumped off in different directions.  
  
Kakashi was walking down a crowded street, he wanted to become inconspicuous. 'Heh, I might even have time to get some ramen before the find me.' Kakashi walked into a restaurant and passed by Chouji, Kakashi played it cool like he didn't even notice. Chouji was holding food in both hands eating it quickly. 'Wait a sec...aren't you?' Chouji looked behind him and didn't see anything. 'Huh...must be seeing things, I guess I'll keep looking' Chouji walked out completely missing Kakashi clinging onto the ceiling for dear life. Kakashi dropped down and walked out back into the crowd. Kakashi was walking around for about 2 hours when a little girl came up to him and asked him if he would play with her.  
  
'I don't see why not' Kakashi smiled at the little girl 'What do you want to play?'  
  
'Oh I don't know...' the little girl said. Suddenly she slapped him on the chest, Kakashi noticed her hand slide down and take one of his bells. 'Tag your it!' the little girl yelled and ran into the crowd.   
  
'Awwww...shit I shoulda seen this coming' Kakashi scolded himself as he chased after the girl jumping from rooftop to rooftop. 'Looks like I'll have to use this' Kakashi did some hand seals and lifted his head protector off of his left eye. With his sharingan and the Jutsu he is able to see the line of chakra connecting the little girl to her controller. Kakashi saw the line leading about 10 blocks north and 4 blocks west 'Guess I'll have a little catching up to do.' Kakashi put his head protector back down over his sharingan eye and began roof-hopping to his target, Ino.   
  
The little girl got to Ino and started walking toward her unconscious body. The little girl dropped the bell on the body and released her Shintenshin no Jutsu. When Ino opened her eyes, she realized she wasn't in the ally anymore. She was on a rooftop, a good look around and she was able to get her bearings. 'I'm on the roof of the ally, but I didn't cast my Jutsu from here...' Ino pondered. Suddenly Ino jumped on the roof opposite of her, Ino felt like she was looking at herself in the mirror. Then Ino noticed the other Ino had two bells on her belt and a puff of smoke showed the bell Ino for who she was...Kakashi! 'What...how did you!?' Ino almost fell off the roof in confusion.   
  
'Well you see, I found where your body was, and moved you...' Kakashi sat on the roof.  
  
'But I gave the bell to my body!'  
  
'Nope, you gave the bell to me' Kakashi stood up, did some hand seals and a poof of smoke turned him into Ino. Kakashi turned back into himself and jumped away. Ino was standing there speechless thinking about what just happened. Then Ino's eyes got wide with horror, she remembered dropping the bell on her body. A closer examination of her memory in her mind's eye she noticed something awry....her body already had a bell on the belt!   
  
'AHHHHHHHH!!!!!' Ino yelled as she jumped after Kakashi.  
  
'Finally, all this spying is hard work' Shikamaru said to himself. He had spent the majority of the day following Kakashi waiting for the exact right moment to ambush him. 'It should be easy to get the bells with my Kagemane Ossan.' Kakashi was sitting on a rooftop looking around, not really paying much attention to anything. Below him was a crowded street, Shikamaru was watching him closely. Finally he saw Kakashi move, Kakashi jumped onto a roof close to Shikamaru and asked 'How long are you going to watch me before you do anything?'  
  
'How did you see me?' Shikamaru knew this was the time. Kakashi would spend enough time explaining for Shikamaru's Kagemane Ossan to catch him. Kakashi tapped his head 'My secret' and jumped into the crowd. Kakashi was standing in the middle of the crowd smiling at Shikamaru. 'Damn he's good' Shikamaru thought to himself 'he's standing in a large enough crowd that I won't be able to capture him. My Kagemane Ossan can't use people's shadows for transport, it would take control of them instead. And I do not have enough chakra to take control of a street that crowded' Shikamaru decided on another tactic. If he can't take control of Kakashi alone, then he'll use his trump card. 'What's he doing?' Kakashi scratched his head after watching Shikamaru throw a kuni into the air. When it got above the rooftops it exploded, Ino and Chouji were well on their way to the site.   
  
'Just stay there' Shikamaru kept saying to himself as he watched Kakashi motionless. Kakashi was watching Shikamaru closely, he knew the boy was a brilliant tactician so he shouldn't make any brash moves or else he'd be caught. Suddenly Kakashi noticed two kuni flying toward him, Kakashi threw two kuni and all the kuni fell harmlessly to the floor. Ino was standing on the rooftop above Shikamaru, Kakashi looked around for another ambush attempt and he noticed Chouji in the crowd throwing a kuni. The kuni missed completely and hit a wall harmlessly, 'I guess that boy's not very good at distance...I can use that.' Kakashi jumped onto the roof across the street from Shikamaru and Ino and jumped from rooftop to rooftop away from them.  
  
'It's getting late, we need to end this soon' Ino told Shikamaru.   
  
'I agree it's about 6'o clock and we only have about two more hours before sundown. I can use my shadow spell better at this time' Shikamaru responded.  
  
'Think we'll be able to get him?'  
  
'I don't care, I just want to end this soon so I can get some sleep' with that said Ino dropped her head in defeat. The three jumped after him the order was Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. As they were chasing Shikamaru came up with a plan, 'Ok this will be a rooftop battle because he doesn't want to get any pedestrians involved. I will go first and try to catch him with my Kagemane Ossan, if I catch him we can avoid any useless fighting. If that doesn't work you two jump to his side, Ino you take his right and Chouji you take his left. I want you two to pummel him with Kuni, Chouji you can't use any of your Justus, if you use you your Baika no Jutsu you could crush a house and that would be disastrous. Ino you can use your Shintenshin no Jutsu and try to take control of his mind if you wish, just don't miss or you could hit Chouji. I will use kuni and try my shadow skills, hopefully we can overwhelm him and make him misstep. When he does BAM! We've got him and it's all over, got it?' Ino and Chouji nodded in acceptance.  
  
The three noticed Kakashi had stopped and was standing about 10 roofs ahead of them waiting for them. Shikamaru let Chouji and Ino go on ahead, they flanked his left and right while Shikamaru threw a kuni and let his Kagemane Ossan fly forward. Kakashi did a back flip high in the air, dodged the kuni and continued to flip. Ino and Chouji noticed he was doing some hand seals, but the speed of his back-spin made it impossible for Shikamaru to see. Ino and Chouji just got into range of Kuni throwing when Kakashi finished his Jutsu. He put his hands over his eyes and pulled them down hard. Kakashi lit up like a light bulb, making all the shadows around him push back. He was in a blinding force-field; no shadows could get within 10 feet of him. Ino and Chouji were able to throw two kuni each before they were blinded by the light. Shikamaru tensed up when the light hit his eyes that he pushed the Kagemane Ossan too far to fast. Shikamaru noticed it hit the light shield and go around the side with the rest of the shadows. Then Shikamaru lost sight of his shadow, he decided he would keep it out there when the shield dissipated it would be easier to hit Kakashi unawares. Ino decided she would try her hand at mind control, she did her hand seals and shot out her Shintenshin no Jutsu. Kakashi was still moving and it missed completely, Ino could make out the silhouette of Chouji.  
  
'Chouji get out of the way!' Ino screamed in horror.  
  
'I can't move!' Chouji screamed back.  
  
'My Jutsu! It's got Chouji stuck!' Shikamaru realized too late. Ino fell to the roof unconscious Kakashi noticed. 'Hmmmm...I wonder what she hit to knock herself out?' Kakashi wondered as he saw her fall. Because of the light everybody's vision was less then perfect, and Kakashi didn't notice the kuni flying strait for his head until it was too late. Kakashi's metal plate in his headband is what saved him from a Kuni in the brain. Kakashi noticed that Chouji had thrown the kuni, 'I see she hit him.' Kakashi did a quick hand seal but nobody could see what it did or what the seals were.   
  
'He must be making another light shield' Shikamaru realized while throwing kuni at the center of the light. Kakashi continued to dodge the kuni thrown by Chouji while Ino was asleep. After a couple of minutes Chouji jumped at Kakashi in an attempt to grab the bells in the chaos of the light and flying kuni. Kakashi grabbed onto Chouji's shirt and threw him into a pile of trashcans. Ino finally got up after Chouji was in the cans, Ino was out of chakra but still had plenty of kuni. She flung all of them but Kakashi dodged them all with a single kuni. When she was out of kuni Kakashi flung about 7 kuni pinning her clothes to the roof. Ino was out of the picture, she couldn't move her arms or legs because they were pinned so tight. Finally the light went out and Shikamaru could see, but he had to pull his shadow back to conserve chakra. Shikamaru rubbed his eyes to get the spots out, when he took a better look he saw an army of Kakashi's. There must have been 100 of them, then Shikamaru realized what happened.  
  
'When he did that quick hand seal after Chouji hit him with the kuni...that wasn't to continue his shield. It was to create shadow clones!' Shikamaru understood now. 'I give up, you've beaten us. It's too close to nightfall to continue this and I don't have enough chakra to take control of all your shadow clones to find the proper you. You win.' Shikamaru admitted defeat and turned around. Shikamaru heard a lot of tiny explosions and felt a hand on his shoulder. 'You've done very well, you'll make a great chuunin one day.' Kakashi and Shikamaru helped un-pin Ino and get Chouji out of that trashcan.  
  
'Awwwwww...we failed the chuunin exam!' Ino kicked a can that was in her path.  
  
'No you didn't' Kakashi corrected her.  
  
'You mean we passed!?'  
  
'No you didn't.'  
  
'Well what then? We didn't pass and we didn't fail? Then what?'  
  
'This wasn't a chuunin exam' Shikamaru jumped in before Kakashi could answer.  
  
'You've got to be kidding me! We did all this for nothing!? I coulda broken a nail!' Ino complained.   
  
'Yea well, you guys did well enough this time around. I think when the actual exam comes around you all will do wonderfully' Kakashi said while looking up at the starry night sky. 'Come on, I'll buy you dinner' Kakashi patted Chouji on the head.   
  
'Yay!' Chouji let out a loud happy bellow.  
  
'Sounds good' Shikamaru said looking at the ground smiling.  
  
'You owe it to us...' Ino complained... 


	7. The beginning of an adventure

The beginning of an adventure...  
  
The next day was another day off for Sasuke's team. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke decided to all meet for lunch to talk about how well they did and what happened to them. Asuma said he would meet them there and critique their performance. Naruto woke up leisurely for the first time in days, put ALL of his clothes on and even had time to take a shower. Sakura woke up early as she normally did, showered, found the perfect dress to show Sasuke, and prepared herself mentally for the criticism she would most likely get from Asuma. Sasuke woke up, trained, showered, got dressed, and went on his way to the restaurant. When the three of them met up there Asuma was already there with Kakashi and Shikamaru's team. They spent the rest of the afternoon sharing stories of what happened during their competition and complementing each other on how well they all did. Kakashi and Asuma spent their time congratulating each other on how well their students did, and telling the students their strong and weak points during the training session. All in all it was an afternoon well spent, a lot was learned and even more was enjoyed. The only problem for Kakashi and Asuma was how much the Genins ate, they were both nearly broke by the end of the day.  
  
'Hey Kakashi, I think your team is ready to take the Chuunin exams when they come up next...' Asuma said while they both sat on a rooftop watching the sunset.  
  
'Yea, yours too Asuma...' 


End file.
